Turn of the Century Literature

1. Turn of the Century Literature By: Nick Linker

2. Café Culture In 1904, there were over 700 cafés open in Vienna Cafés became social centers where people and intellectuals could study, debate politics, or just have general conversations. It was also a place where people could have their mail dropped off, meet people, read newspaper, or play cards. For all intents and purposes, it was the social center of Vienna. Cafés became known for having a certain crowd. Writers and intellectuals populated the Café Griensteidl and later Café Central.

3. Feuilleton • Named after the supplement attached to a newspaper • Cultural section of press • New style of writing • Wit, good taste, novelty, nostalgia

4. Peter Altenberg (1859-1919) • Born Richard Englander • Discovered in 1893 by Schnitzler at Central. • Was the ultimate bohemian and a drunk. • Impressionist poet, short story writer, and essayist. • Great observer of people doing everyday activities. • Vignettes of rootless persons in cafés, encounters are fleeting. • Evocations of Love (1960)

5. Karl Kraus (1874-1936) • Harsh, grammatical critic, also did satires. • Criticized everyone and made many enemies, hated vernacular and sloppy language. • Said to have had a photographic memory, did recitations of Nestroy and Shakespeare. • Die Fackel (1899) Newspapaer he wrote and published. From 1911 to his death in 1936 he wrote it entirely by himself, producing several issues a year. • “Die LetztenTagederMenschheit” 1922 – satirical play shows the moral defects in his characters with the language each one uses.

6. Kraus on language He wanted to educate his readers to an "understanding of the cause of the German language, to that height at which the written word is understood as a necessary incarnation of the thought, and not simply a shell demanded by society around an opinion."

7. Arthur Schnitzler (1862-1936) • Contemporary of Freud’s. Freud called him his “double”. • Noted for his frank description of sexuality and for his strong stand against anti-Semitism. • His works contain interior monologues narrated in the 1st and 3rd persons and often deal with morality. • “LeutnantGustl” has muses about the past and slumbering memories that reveal a dilemma. • Wrote mostly plays and short stories, but also wrote two novels, the most famous being “DerWeg ins Freie”. This story is a master piece tale of anti-Semitism, the psychology of love, and the bourgeoisie during the pre-war period in Vienna.

8. Schnitzler

9. Summary All three authors were part of the avantgarde group known as Jung Wien (Young Vienna), writers who frequented coffeeshops. All of them also depict Viennese society aptly and often critique or satirize their subjects. The works produced from this group known as Jung Wien is known today as Coffeeshop Literature. Other notable authors in this group include Bahr, Hofmannsthal, Beer-Hofmann, and Salten.